The novel was adapted for film with a screenplay by Fowles, directed by Guy Green, and released in 1968. It starred Michael Caine as Nicholas Urfe, Anthony Quinn as Maurice Conchis, Anna Karina as Alison, Candice Bergen as Lily / Julie, and Julian Glover as Anton. It was filmed on the island of Majorca. The adaptation generally was considered a failure as film; when Peter Sellers was asked whether he would make changes in his life if he had the opportunity to do it all over again, he jokingly replied, "I would do everything exactly the same except I wouldn't see The Magus."[7][a]
Caine said that it was one of the worst films in which he had been involved because no one knew what it was about. Despite the critical failure, the film was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography.
BBC Radio 4 broadcast in 2016 a dramatization by Adrian Hodges, with Charles Dance in the role of Conchis.[8]
In 2020, a new television miniseries adaptation of The Magus was announced to be in development at Neal Street Productions, with Johan Renck being looked at to direct based on a screenplay written by Tom Edge.[9]
